Abstract:

Methods and systems for associating a standardized electronic icon with a
user and displaying the icon with electronic communications of the user
are disclosed. A computer implemented method includes: determining one or
more icons to associate with an individual when the individual creates an
electronic message; and at least one of selectively and automatically
appending at least one of the one or more icons that are associated with
the individual to the electronic message. The at least one of the one or
more icons is subsequently displayed with the electronic message to a
recipient to provide information about the individual to the recipient.

Claims:

1. A computer implemented method for displaying standardized icons in
electronic media, comprising:determining one or more icons to associate
with an individual when the individual creates an electronic
message;authenticating that the individual is approved to use at least
one of the one or more icons; andat least one of selectively and
automatically appending the at least one of the one or more icons that
are associated with the individual to the electronic message,wherein the
at least one of the one or more icons is subsequently displayed with the
electronic message to a recipient to provide information about the
individual to the recipient,a shape of the one or more icons signifies a
first information,indicia associated with the shape signifies a second
information different from the first information, andcolor of at least
one of the shape and the indicia signifies a third information different
from the first information and the second information.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying additional
information about the individual when a user places a mouse pointer over
the one or more icons.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the additional information contains at
least one hyperlink.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises at least one
of:looking up the one or more icons in a database entry associated with
the individual, andlooking up the one or more icons in an electronic
profile of the individual.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selectively appending
comprises:presenting the one or more icons to the individual in a
drop-down menu; andreceiving from the individual a selection of the at
least one of the one or more icons.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatically appending is based on
one of:type of communication medium, andone or more icons associated with
the recipient.

8. The method of claim 1, where a user filters content of electronic
communications based on at least one of the one or more icons.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of
creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computing infrastructure.

10. The method of claim 1, at least one of the steps of claim 1 is
provided by a service provider under a subscription and/or fee agreement
and/or based on advertising content to one or more third parties.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is implemented in a computer
infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a
computer readable storage medium having programming instructions operable
to perform the steps of claim 1

12. A computer program product for displaying informational icons in
electronic media, the computer program product comprising program code
stored on a tangible storage medium, which, when executed on a computing
device, causes the computing device to:determine, for each respective
participant of a chat session, at least one icon associated with the
respective participant;display, for each respective participant, the at
least one icon and an identity of the respective participant in a list of
participants; anddisplay, for each message by a respective participant,
the at least one icon, the identity of the participant, and the message
in a message area.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein:a shape of the at
least one icon signifies a first information,indicia associated with the
shape signifies a second information, andcolor of at least one of the
shape and the indicia signifies a third information.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising
displaying additional information about a respective participant when a
user places a mouse pointer over the at least one icon.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the additional
information contains at least one hyperlink.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein each respective
participant is permitted to select the at least one icon from a menu of
approved icons associated with that respective participant.

17. A system for displaying standardized icons in electronic media,
comprising:a computing infrastructure comprising a combination of
hardware and software configured to:determine a plurality of icons
associated with participants of an electronic collaboration
session;present to each one of the participants a list of the plurality
of icons;receive from at least one of the participants a selection of
filtering icons selected from the list; andfor each respective one of the
participants that selected filtering icons, modify the viewable display
of that respective one of the participants based on the filtering icons
selected.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the modifying the viewable display
comprises showing messages from ones of the participants who are
associated with the filtering icons selected, while suppressing message
from other ones of the participants not associated with the filtering
icons selected.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the modifying the viewable display
comprises suppressing messages from ones of the participants who are
associated with the filtering icons selected, while showing message from
other ones of the participants not associated with the filtering icons
selected.

20. A method for displaying standardized icons in electronic media,
comprising:providing a computing infrastructure including a combination
of hardware and software that is configured to:determine one or more
icons to associate with an individual when the individual creates an
electronic message; andat least one of selectively and automatically
append at least one of the one or more icons that are associated with the
individual to the electronic message,wherein the at least one of the one
or more icons is subsequently displayed with the electronic message to a
recipient to provide information about the individual to the recipient,a
shape of the one or more icons signifies a first information,indicia
associated with the shape signifies a second information different from
the first information, andcolor of at least one of the shape and the
indicia signifies a third information different from both the first and
second information.

21. The method of claim 20, comprising both automatically appending and
selectively appending, wherein:the selectively appending
comprises:presenting the one or more icons to the individual in a
drop-down menu; andreceiving from the individual a selection of the at
least one of the one or more icons, andthe automatically appending is
based on one of:type of communication medium, andone or more icons
associated with the recipient.

22. The method of claim 20, the computing infrastructure is provided by a
service provider under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or based
on advertising content to one or more third parties.

Description:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001]The invention generally relates to electronic communication, and
more particularly to methods and systems for associating a standardized
electronic icon with a user and displaying the icon with electronic
communications of the user.

BACKGROUND

[0002]Electronic communication mediums are becoming exceedingly popular
forms of communication and collaboration. However, with the wide variety
of electronic communication tools and formats, and the broad range of
restrictions and personal preferences with respect to formatting of data,
it is often difficult or impossible to quickly discern the role/expertise
of a participant. As an example, during an instant real-time
collaboration session with numerous (e.g., twenty or more) participants,
it is unlikely that all members will know one another. In such an
environment, the participants of the session do not have a basis for
judging the value of any input provided by other unknown participants.

[0003]Additionally one or more persons working in the same organization
may send email to an external client, each person having a different type
and style of identifying electronic signature. This can be very confusing
for the client.

[0004]Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the
deficiencies and limitations described herein.

SUMMARY

[0005]In a first aspect of the invention, there is a computer implemented
method for displaying standardized icons in electronic media, comprising:
determining one or more icons to associate with an individual when the
individual creates an electronic message; authenticating that the
individual is approved to use at least one of the one or more icons; and
at least one of selectively and automatically appending the at least one
of the one or more icons that are associated with the individual to the
electronic message. The at least one of the one or more icons is
subsequently displayed with the electronic message to a recipient to
provide information about the individual to the recipient. Also, a shape
of the one or more icons signifies a first information, indicia
associated with the shape signifies a second information different from
the first information, and color of at least one of the shape and the
indicia signifies a third information different from the first
information and the second information.

[0006]In another aspect of the invention, there is a computer program
product for displaying informational icons in electronic media, the
computer program product comprising program code stored on a tangible
storage medium. When executed on a computing device, the program code
causes the computing device to: determine, for each respective
participant of a chat session, at least one icon associated with the
respective participant; display, for each respective participant, the at
least one icon and an identity of the respective participant in a list of
participants; and display, for each message by a respective participant,
the at least one icon, the identity of the participant, and the message
in a message area.

[0007]In another aspect of the invention, there is a system for displaying
standardized icons in electronic media. The system comprises a computing
infrastructure comprising a combination of hardware and software
configured to: determine a plurality of icons associated with
participants of an electronic collaboration session; present to each one
of the participants a list of the plurality of icons; receive from at
least one of the participants a selection of filtering icons selected
from the list; and for each respective one of the participants that
selected filtering icons, modify the viewable display of that respective
one of the participants based on the filtering icons selected.

[0008]In another aspect of the invention, there is a method for displaying
standardized icons in electronic media. The method comprises providing a
computing infrastructure including a combination of hardware and software
that is configured to: determine one or more icons to associate with an
individual when the individual creates an electronic message; and at
least one of selectively and automatically appending at least one of the
one or more icons that are associated with the individual to the
electronic message. The at least one of the one or more icons is
subsequently displayed with the electronic message to a recipient to
provide information about the individual to the recipient. A shape of the
one or more icons signifies a first information. Indicia associated with
the shape signifies a second information different from the first
information. Color of at least one of the shape and the indicia signifies
a third information different from both the first and second information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009]The present invention is described in the detailed description which
follows, in reference to the noted plurality of drawings by way of
non-limiting examples of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0010]FIG. 1 shows an illustrative environment for implementing the steps
in accordance with aspects of the invention;

[0011]FIG. 2 shows an exemplary implementation of a real-time
communication using icons in accordance with aspects of the invention;

[0012]FIGS. 3-7 show exemplary icons in accordance with aspects of the
invention;

[0013]FIGS. 8 and 9 show an exemplary implementation of non-real-time
communications using icons in accordance with aspects of the invention;
and

[0014]FIGS. 10 and 11 show flow diagrams depicting implementations of
methods according to aspects of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015]The invention generally relates to electronic communication, and
more particularly to methods and systems for associating a standardized
electronic icon with a user and displaying the icon with electronic
communications of the user. In embodiments, standardized icons are
appended to electronic messages created by a user. The icons are
representative of characteristics of the user (e.g., credentials,
certifications, job title, etc.), such that recipients of the message may
quickly ascertain such information about the user. The icons may be
automatically or selectively appended to any suitable type of electronic
communication messages, such as, for example, emails, instant messages,
chat room messages, blog posts, forum posts, etc. Since the icons are
standardized, implementations of the invention are multi-modal and
provide for quick and easy determination of author characteristics across
a number of different types of electronic communication media.

[0016]In embodiments, an employer, service provider, or other third party
assigns appropriate icons to respective users. Icons may be assigned to
users according to any criteria, including but not limited to, job role,
job group, job title, achievements, certification, credentials, etc.
Icons associated with a user may be stored in a database or file that is
accessible by the user's electronic communication software, such that the
icons can be appended to the user's electronic communication messages.
Additionally, when a user creates and/or sends a message and attempts to
append an icon to the message, an authentication may be performed to
verify that the user is permitted to display the icon. In this manner,
control of the standardized icons is maintained, such that recipients of
a message from a user may rely on the authenticity of any icons appended
to the message.

[0017]In accordance with additional aspects of the invention, the icons
may be used as a basis for filtering electronic communications. For
example, in a chat room environment, a user may choose to display only
those messages from users having particular icons, while suppressing any
messages from users who are not associated with the particular icons.
Such filtering may be controlled by a user selecting which icons to
filter (or by selecting which icons to not filter). Additionally or
alternatively, the filtering may be performed automatically based on
metadata or keywords associated with icons of a user. For example, when
the subject matter of a collaboration session is determined to match the
metadata or key words associated with a particular icon, then the user's
viewable display of the collaboration session may be filtered to show
only messages from other participants who are associated with that
particular icon.

[0018]In further embodiments, icons may be automatically appended to an
electronic message based on the intended recipient of the message. For
example, in an email environment, a script may be used to automatically
append icons that are common to the author and the recipient(s) of the
email.

Exemplary System Environment and Infrastructure

[0019]As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present
invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program
product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an
entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including
firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining
software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to
herein as a "circuit," "module" or "system." Furthermore, the present
invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in any
tangible medium of expression having computer-usable program code
embodied in the medium.

[0020]Any combination of one or more computer usable or computer readable
medium(s) may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable
medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic,
optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus,
device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive
list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following:
[0021]a portable computer diskette, [0022]a hard disk, [0023]a random
access memory (RAM), [0024]a read-only memory (ROM), [0025]an erasable
programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), [0026]a portable
compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), [0027]an optical storage device,
[0028]a transmission media such as those supporting the Internet or an
intranet, and/or [0029]a magnetic storage device.The computer-usable or
computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium
upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically
captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other
medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable
manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

[0030]In the context of this document, a computer-usable or
computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store,
communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in
connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with the
computer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband or as
part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may be
transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to
wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc.

[0031]Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present
invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming
languages, including an object oriented programming language such as
Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming
languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming
languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer,
partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly
on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the
remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer
may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network. This
may include, for example, a local area network (LAN) or a wide area
network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for
example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

[0032]FIG. 1 shows an illustrative environment 10 for managing the
processes in accordance with the invention. To this extent, the
environment 10 includes a computer infrastructure 12 that can perform the
processes described herein. In particular, the computer infrastructure 12
includes a computing device 14 that is operatively connected to any
number of user computer devices 50a, 50b, 50c, . . . , 50n through a
network 55. The computing device 14 comprises an application 30 written
in program code (e.g., program control 44), which makes the computing
device 14 operable to perform the processes described herein, such as,
for example, determine icons associated with a user so that the user may
append these icons to an electronic message. For example, the application
30 may function as a server that communicates with a software application
(client, agent, etc.) on each user computer devices 50a, 50b, 50c, . . .
, 50n to display icons with certain electronic communications.

[0033]According to aspects of the invention, one or more icons are defined
using data stored in storage system 22B and/or database 60. As described
in further detail herein, the icons may be indicative of any desired
information, including, but not limited to, criteria, credentials,
certifications, etc. of an individual. For example, each division or
department within a company may have its own unique identifying icon
which would be applied to each employee in that organization. As another
example, a particular technical certification may have a unique icon
associated with it, and an individual who has achieved this certification
may be associated with this icon. Any number of icons may be defined, and
a particular user may be associated with any number of the icons. In
embodiments, an employer, service provider, or other third party defines
the icons, and also determines (e.g., designates) which icons are
associated with which individuals. As noted above, any desired criteria
may be employed as the basis for associating an icon with an individual.
Also, the association (e.g., designation) of icons with users may be
performed on an ongoing basis, e.g., as credentials of users change.

[0034]In embodiments, icons associated with users are stored in a
relational database (RDB) 60. The RDB 60 may optionally include
additional database fields including more granular information about an
individual as further described in the remainder of this disclosure. For
example, when a user is logged on to a respective user computer device
(e.g., 50a) and creates an electronic message (e.g., email, instant
message, chat room post, blog entry, etc.), the computing device 14 (via
program control 44) determines the icons associated with user from the
RDB 60 and communicates these icons to the user computer device (e.g.,
50a). In this manner, the user may choose to append any of the icons
associated with him or her to the electronic message.

[0035]Additionally or alternatively, icon definitions may be kept in a
file (e.g., in storage system 22B). Criteria associated with the icon
definitions may be imposed against a user's register (e.g., in a user
registry) to determine which icons a user is permitted to display in his
or her messages. Such a file of icon definitions could be used with or
without a database (e.g., RDB 60), and would be useful in an enterprise
environment. When using a file of icon definitions, fields in the user
registry (e.g., RDB 60) may include mapping definitions in the file to a
particular icon. For example, when a user is logged on to a respective
user computer device (e.g., 50a) and creates an electronic message, the
computing device 14 (via program control 44) determines the icons
associated with user from the user register, obtains the associated icons
from the file, and communicates the icons to the user computer device
(e.g., 50a). Accordingly, the user may choose to append any of the icons
associated with him or her to the electronic message.

[0036]In additional embodiments, the computing device 14 operates (via
programming code 44) to perform an authentication process for icons
appended to an electronic message. It is possible that a user may obtain
or create a copy of an icon that is not associated with that user (e.g.,
an icon which the user is not approved to use). It is further possible
that the user may append this illicit icon to an electronic message.
Accordingly, in embodiments, when a user attempts to send a message using
a user computer device (e.g., 50a), the computing device 14 compares
icons appended to the message to icons actually associated with the user.
For example, the computing device 14 may determine which icons are
appended to a message by comparing data in the message to data
definitions of icons stored in the RDB 60 and/or icon definition file
(e.g., stored in storage system 22B). Then, the computing device 14 may
compare the icons that are appended to the message to the icons that the
user is approved to use. When a message contains a particular icon that
the user is not approved to use, the computing device 14 may
automatically remove that particular icon from the message (e.g., by
deleting the data that defines the icon from the message), or may prevent
the message from being sent.

[0037]The computing device 14 includes a processor 20, a memory 22A, an
input/output (I/O) interface 24, and a bus 26. The memory 22A can include
local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk
storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at least
some the program code (e.g., program control 44) in order to reduce the
number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during
execution. Further, the computing device 14 is in communication with an
external I/O device/resource 28 and a storage system 22B. The I/O device
28 can comprise any device that enables an individual to interact with
the computing device 14 or any device that enables the computing device
14 to communicate with one or more other computing devices using any type
of communications link. The external I/O device/resource 28 may be
keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.

[0038]The processor 20 executes the computer program code (e.g., program
control 44), which is stored in memory 22A and/or storage system 22B.
While executing computer program code, the processor 20 can read and/or
write data to/from memory 22A, storage system 22B, and/or I/O interface
24. The bus 26 provides a communications link between each of the
components in the computing device 14.

[0039]The computing device 14 and respective user computer devices 50a,
50b, 50c, . . . , 50n can comprise any general purpose computing article
of manufacture capable of executing computer program code installed
thereon (e.g., a personal computer, server, wireless notebook, smart
telephone, personal digital assistant, etc.). However, it is understood
that the computing device 14 and user computer devices 50a, 50b, 50c, . .
. , 50n are only representative of various possible equivalent computing
devices that may perform the processes described herein. To this extent,
in embodiments, the functionality provided by the computing device 14 and
user computer devices 50a, 50b, 50c, . . . , 50n can be implemented by a
computing article of manufacture that includes any combination of general
and/or specific purpose hardware and/or computer program code. In each
embodiment, the program code and hardware can be created using standard
programming and engineering techniques, respectively.

[0040]Similarly, the computer infrastructure 12 is only illustrative of
various types of computer infrastructures for implementing the invention.
For example, in embodiments, the computer infrastructure 12 comprises two
or more computing devices (e.g., a server cluster) that communicate over
any type of communications link, such as a network, a shared memory, or
the like, to perform the processes described herein. Further, while
performing the processes described herein, one or more computing devices
in the computer infrastructure 12 can communicate with one or more other
computing devices external to computer infrastructure 12 using any type
of communications link. The communications link can comprise any
combination of wired and/or wireless links; any combination of one or
more types of networks (e.g., the Internet, a wide area network, a local
area network, a virtual private network, etc.); and/or utilize any
combination of transmission techniques and protocols.

[0041]In embodiments, the invention provides a business method that
performs the steps of the invention on a subscription, advertising,
and/or fee basis. That is, a primary service provider, such as a Solution
Integrator, could offer to perform the processes described herein. In
this case, the primary service provider can create, maintain, deploy,
support, etc., a computer infrastructure that performs the process steps
of the invention for one or more customers. In return, the primary
service provider can receive payment from the customer(s) under a
subscription and/or fee agreement and/or the primary service provider can
receive payment from the sale of advertising content to one or more third
parties.

Exemplary Icons

[0042]FIG. 2 shows an exemplary implementation of a real-time
communication using icons in accordance with aspects of the invention. In
a collaborative session where a user does not know each of the other
participants, it is advantageous for the user to be able to quickly
ascertain the various roles of the unknown participants. For example, in
dynamic collaborative environments (e.g., chat sessions, etc.), it is
helpful to understand as much about each participant as quickly as
possible.

[0043]More specifically, FIG. 2 shows an exemplary display 200 of a chat
session utilizing icons in accordance with aspects of the invention. The
display 200 includes a list of participants 210 and a message area 220.
Each participant has an icon 230a-e displayed next to their name in the
list of participants 210. As described herein, each respective icon
230a-e may have a distinct shape, color, text, etc., that signifies
predefined information about the participant that the icon is associated
with. For example, and as described in more detail below with respect to
FIGS. 3-7, the shape, text, and color of icon 230d may indicate that John
Smith is a Senior I/T Specialist in the Services Division of the
organization. Additionally, the shape, text, and color of icon 230e may
indicate that Jane Smith is Chief Counsel in the Law Office. In this
manner, observers of the chat session may instantly ascertain information
about the other participants of the chat session by looking at the icons.

[0044]As depicted in FIG. 2, a participant may have one icon (e.g., 230a)
or more than one icon (e.g., 230c, 230d) displayed next to their name.
Additionally, a participant may have zero icons displayed next to their
name. Moreover, two or more participants may have common icons.

[0045]Additionally, when a participant sends an electronic message to the
chat session, their respective icon is displayed along with their name
next to their message in the message area 220. In this manner, observers
of the chat session (e.g., other participants, etc.) may quickly
ascertain useful information about a participant who has posted a message
from the icons.

[0046]In accordance with aspects of the invention, the chat session in
FIG. 2 may be implemented using the environment described with respect to
FIG. 1. For example, each participant may be logged on to a respective
user computer device (e.g., 50a, 50b, etc.), and a definition of the
icons 230a-e displayed next to the users may be stored in a database
(e.g., database 60) and/or an icon definition file (e.g., stored in
storage system 22B). In such an environment, the computing device 14 may
operate (e.g., via program control 44) to append the appropriate icons
230a-e to the participant names in the participant list 210 and to the
messages in the message area 220.

[0047]Although particular examples of icons are shown in FIG. 2, the
invention is not limited to these examples. Instead, any suitable types
of icons (e.g., size, shape, color, text, etc.) may be used within the
scope of the invention. Moreover, icons may be used with any real-time
communication, and the invention is not limited to use with chat
sessions.

[0048]FIGS. 3-7 show exemplary icons in accordance with aspects of the
invention. The icons shown are merely illustrative, and the invention is
not limited to the icons depicted in FIGS. 3-7. Instead, the exemplary
icons are used to illustrate how icons of different shapes, colors, text,
etc., may be used as standardized indicators of information about people.

[0049]More specifically, FIG. 3 demonstrates that the shape of the icon
may be indicative of a department within an organization. For example, an
icon 230f having a first shape may represent that an individual is in the
Services Division, an icon 230g having a second shape may represent that
an individual is in Sales and Distribution, and an icon 230h having a
third shape may represent that an individual is in the Law Office.
Accordingly, all people in the Services Division would have an icon
having the first shape (e.g., icon 230f) associated with them and
available to them for use with their electronic communications. In this
manner, when a recipient receives an electronic communication from a
user, and that communication includes an icon having the first shape
(e.g., icon 230f), the recipient will immediately be able to determine
from the icon that the author of the message is a member of the Services
Division. In further embodiments, the shapes are intuitively linked with
the information that they convey. For example, a cog shape may be used to
represent people in an engineering department.

[0050]FIG. 4 continues the example of FIG. 3, and depicts how additional
data may be added to each icon to provide even further information about
an individual. By using acronyms, initials, abbreviations and/or
graphics, individual status with additional granularity can be understood
at a glance. For example, an icon 230i having the text "IS" included
within the first shape indicates that an individual is an I/T Specialist
within the Services Division. Similarly, an icon 230j having the text
"TS" within the second shape indicates that the user is in Technical
Sales in Sales and Distribution. Also, an icon 230k having the text "IP"
within the third shape indicates that the individual is an IP Law Counsel
in the Law Office. In this manner, text or other indicia may be added to
the shapes (e.g., from FIG. 2) to further identify an individual's role
within the organization represented by the shape.

[0051]FIG. 5 continues the example of FIGS. 3 and 4, and demonstrates how
an additional level of informational granularity may be added to each
icon using color (texture, pattern, etc.). For example, in addition to
shape and text, color may be used with an icon to designate, e.g.,
seniority or career stage of an individual. Particularly, in FIG. 5 the
first color 505 may indicate an Advisory level employee. As described
above with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4, the first shape and text "IS"
indicate an I/T Specialist in the Services Division. Therefore, an icon
2301 having the combination of the first color 505, first shape, and text
"IS" indicates an Advisory I/T Specialist in the Services Division.
Similarly, an icon 230m having the second color 510, first shape, and
text "IS" may represent a Certified I/T Specialist in the Services
Division. Likewise, an icon 230n having the third color 515, first shape,
and text "IS" may represent a Senior I/T Specialist in the Services
Division.

[0052]The shapes, text, and colors of the icons described thus far are
merely exemplary, and any desired number icons of different combinations
of shape, text, color, may be used within the scope of the invention. For
example, FIG. 6 shows additional icons 230o-230t that designate other
types of information about an individual.

[0053]FIG. 7 depicts an embodiment where additional information 705 is
associated with an icon 230u, and is displayed when a user positions
their mouse 715 over the icon 230u. In this manner, when a user observes
an icon in a chat session (e.g., as depicted in FIG. 2), the user may
"mouse-over" the icon to view the additional information. The additional
information 705 may be any desired information, and may include
hyperlinks 720. The additional information 705 may be stored in the same
location as the icon (e.g., database 60, storage system 22B, etc.). In
embodiments, the computing device 14 is configured to provide the
information to a user computer device (e.g., 50a) when the mouse pointer
on the user computer device is detected over the icon 230u. The
information may include, for example, the definition of the icon and
associated identification information, such as, for example, as discussed
with respect to FIGS. 2-6.

[0054]FIGS. 8 and 9 depict examples of icons 230v, 230x appended to a
non-real-time electronic communication, such as a signature 815 of an
email message. The signature 815 may comprise plural portions, such as a
logo 820 and a text signature 825 as shown in FIG. 8. Alternatively, the
signature 815 may comprise a single portion (e.g., logo 820) and one or
more icons (e.g., 230v, 230x). Thus, the standardized icons described
herein are not limited being used with (e.g., appended to) chat session
communications (e.g., FIG. 2). Rather, the icons described herein may be
used with any form of electronic communication, such as email (e.g.,
FIGS. 8 and 9), blog posts, forum posts, etc.

[0055]In embodiments, an employer, service provider, or other third party
defines the various icons and the information associated with each icon.
The same employer, service provider, or other third party may designate
which icons apply to which individuals. Data defining the icons and
designations of respective icons with individuals may be stored in a
database (e.g., database 60) or file (e.g., resident in storage system
22B) as described above with respect to FIG. 1, and may be updated on a
routine and/or as-needed basis (e.g., due to a change in status of a
user). The information may be obtained by third parties in order to
understand the icon. Then, when an individual creates an electronic
message (e.g., using user computer device 50a), any one or more of the
icons associated with the individual may be appended to that message.

[0056]In additional embodiments, an icon can be used to display historical
information about the individual using the icon. That is to say, data
associated with a first user's past employment divisions, departments,
roles, etc., may be stored and linked to an icon associated with that
first user. Then, for example, when a second user right-clicks on the
icon (e.g., in an email received from the first user), the computing
device 14 could display the historical information about the first user.

Appending Icons to Messages

[0057]In embodiments, an individual creating an electronic communication
(e.g., using user computer device 50a) may automatically and/or
selectively append any of the icons associated with them to the message.
For example, the computing device 14 may be configured to cooperate with
the email program of the user computer device 50a to provide the
individual with a pull-down menu of available icons for appending to an
email message. In this manner, the individual has the option of
selecting, from all of his or her approved icons, those to be displayed
with a particular message. Although this example is described with
respect to email, the selective appending described herein is equally
useable with any other form of electronic message (e.g., chat session,
blog post, forum post, etc.).

[0058]In additional embodiments, the individual may be permitted to
specify that certain icons are automatically appended to each message in
a particular communication medium. For example, the computing device 14
may be configured to cooperate with the email program of the user
computer device 50a to permit the individual to specify that a particular
icon is to be automatically appended to each outgoing email. Then, when
the individual creates a new email, the specified icon is automatically
included in the email message.

[0059]Moreover, different icons may be automatically appended to messages
based on the type of communication medium being utilized. For example, in
addition to the icons automatically added to emails as described above,
the computing device 14 may be configured to cooperate with the chat
session program of the user computer device 50a to permit the individual
to specify that a particular icon is to be automatically appended to chat
session messages. The icons automatically added to emails may be the same
or different than the icons automatically added to chat session messages.

[0060]In additional embodiments, one or more icons may be automatically
attached to an email message based on the recipient of the email message.
More specifically, the computing device 14 may operate to compare the
icons associated with the author of the email message to the icons
associated with the recipient of the email message (e.g., defined on the
"To" field of the email message). Any icons that are common to both
individuals are automatically appended to the email message. In this
manner, the automatic appending of icons is targeted to the intended
audience of the message.

[0061]Furthermore, selective appending of icons may be used in combination
with automatic appending. For example, in addition to one or more icons
being automatically appended to an email message, the user may also
selectively add other approved icons (e.g., via drop-down menu) to the
same email message.

[0062]As previously described with respect to FIG. 1, an authentication
procedure may optionally be performed to verify that icons appended to
any electronic communication are approved for use by the author of the
message. In embodiments, this authentication procedure is performed at
least in part by the computing device 14 comparing the icons appended to
the message to the icons approved for use by the individual creating the
message. When an unapproved icon is detected in a message, the computing
device 14 may strip the unapproved icon from the message when then
message is sent (e.g., so that any recipient of the message will not see
the unapproved icon). Additionally or alternatively, when an unapproved
icon is detected in a message, the computing device 14 may prevent the
message from being sent until the unapproved icon is removed. For
example, an error message or warning may be displayed on the user
computer device 50a instructing the individual to remove the unapproved
icon from the message.

Filtering Based on Icons

[0063]In additional embodiments, the icons associated with an individual
may be used as a basis for filtering electronic communications. For
example, in a chat session environment, an individual may select one or
more icons (e.g., from a drop-down menu), and only messages from users
having those selected icons will be displayed on the individual's view of
the chat session. In this manner, the individual may selectively filter
(e.g., not view) messages from other users that are not associated with
the selected icon(s). In embodiments, the computing device 14 determines
all of the icons associated with all of the participants of the chat
session, and presents the individual (e.g., via user computer device 50a)
with a pull-down menu from which to select filtering icons.

[0064]Additionally or alternatively, filtering may be performed
automatically based on predefined metadata associated with icons. More
specifically, in embodiments, a user may specify (e.g., in an
electronically stored user profile) metadata associated with any of the
icons associated with (e.g., approved for use by) that user. The
computing device 14 may be configured to scan the text of messages of a
collaboration session for such metadata. When metadata associated with a
particular icon is found, the computing device 14 operates to modify the
user's viewable display of the collaboration session to show only
messages from other participants who are associated with that particular
icon.

Exemplary Processes of the Invention

[0065]FIGS. 10 and 11 are an illustrative exemplary process in accordance
with the present invention. The steps of FIGS. 10 and 11 may be
implemented on the computer infrastructure of environment of FIG. 1. The
flow diagrams in FIGS. 10 and 11 may be illustrative of the architecture,
functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems,
methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of
the present invention. In this regard, each process may represent a
module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more
executable instructions for implementing the specified logical
function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative
implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the
order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession
may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may
sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the
functionality involved. Each block of the flow diagrams, and combinations
of the flow diagrams illustrations can be implemented by special purpose
hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or
combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions and/or
software, as described above.

[0066]Additionally, the invention can take the form of an entirely
hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment
containing both hardware and software elements. Software includes but is
not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, etc. Furthermore,
the invention can take the form of a computer program product accessible
from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code
for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution
system. The software and/or computer program product can be implemented
in the environments of FIG. 1. For the purposes of this description, a
computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can
contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use
by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or
device. The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical,
electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or
device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium
include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable
computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory
(ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of
optical disks include compact disk--read only memory (CD-ROM), compact
disk--read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.

[0067]More specifically, FIG. 10 shows a flow diagram depicting steps of a
method in accordance with aspects of the invention. At step 1005, an
employer, service provider, or other entity define and electronically
stores one or more icons. The icons may be similar to those described
with respect to FIGS. 2-9, and may have any desired shape, indicia,
color, etc., to stand for any desired information (e.g., job title, job
rank, certification, achievements, etc.). Data defining the icons may be
stored, for example, in a database (e.g., database 60) or in a file
(e.g., stored in storage system 22B).

[0068]At step 1010, the employer, service provider, or other entity
associated certain ones of the icons defined in step 1005 with
individuals. The associations may be based on any suitable criteria. As
described above with respect to FIG. 1, icons associated with each
individual (or a pointer to such icons) may be stored in a database entry
or file (e.g., electronic user profile) associated with the user.

[0070]At step 1020, a program control (e.g., program control 44 of
computing device 14 described with respect to FIG. 1) determines the
icons that are associated with the user that is creating the message at
step 1015. In embodiments, the program control looks up the icons in the
database or file based on the user's identity, as described above with
respect to FIG. 1.

[0071]At step 1025, one or more of the icons determines in step 1020 are
appended to (e.g., attached to, included in, etc.) the electronic
message. This may be performed as already described herein. For example,
the user may selectively append icons based on a list of available icons
shown in a drop-down menu. Additionally or alternatively, icons may be
automatically appended to the message based on the type of message (e.g.,
email, chat session, blog, forum, etc.). Additionally or alternatively,
icons may be automatically appended to the message based on any other
factors, such as icons that are common between the user creating the
message and the identified recipient of the message.

[0072]At step 1030, the message is transmitted and displayed to the
recipient(s), with the icons from step 1025 being displayed with the
message. For example, the server computing device (e.g., computing device
14) communicates with the various user computer devices (e.g., user
computer devices 50a, . . . , 50n) to transmit and display the message
with the one or more icons included with the message.

[0073]FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram depicting steps of another process in
accordance with aspects of the invention. At step 1105, a chat session is
started in a conventional manner. At step 1110, a program control (e.g.,
program control 44) determines all of the icons associated with the
respective participants of the chat session. This may be performed, for
example, as described herein by looking up each user's associated icons
in the database (e.g., database 60) or data file (e.g., stored in storage
system 22B).

[0074]At step 1115, the program control presents a user (e.g., an
individual participant of the chat session) with the option to filter the
chat session based on the icons determined in step 1110. For example, the
program control may cooperate with the user computer device (e.g., user
computer device 50a) to display a drop-down menu of all of the icons
determined at step 1110. The user may select one or more icons from the
drop-down menu as filtering icons.

[0075]At step 1120, the program control filters the user's viewable
display of the chat session based on the filtering icons selected in step
1115. In embodiments, the program control cooperates with the user
computer device to modify the user's viewable display of the chat session
to show messages only from participants that are associated with one or
more of the filtering icons.

[0076]Aspects of the invention are multi-modal, such that implementations
of the invention enables useful secondary functions such as visual
indicator filtering based on communication forum and context, discussion
topic, target party or audience, and the like. For example, during a chat
session between users having different job roles (e.g., sales people,
installation people, inventors, and invention evaluators), each one of
the user may filter his or her viewable display of the chat session based
on icons associated with the various participants.

[0077]Moreover, the visual indicators provided in embodiments of the
present invention are context independent and can be meaningful outside
of the context of the original electronic communication. As an example,
an email sent to a third party including a Certified CNE indicator would
be broadly meaningful to the recipient.

[0078]Implementations of the invention can be used to display different
icons to different people based on role, location, or other attributes.
For example, different icons may be automatically appended to different
messages based on any number of factors, such as commonality of icons
between sender and recipient.

[0079]Moreover, because aspects of the invention are multi-modal, the
visual indicators described herein are not limited to visibility within a
single application. Rather, embodiments of the invention provide a
mechanism to display such visual indicators in a plurality of external
applications. For example, the same icon may be used with an email
application, a chat session application, and blog and forum posts.

[0080]The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing
particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the
invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are
intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly
indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms
"comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify
the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,
and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or
more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,
and/or groups thereof.

[0081]The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of
all means or step plus function elements in the claims below, where
applicable, are intended to include any structure, material, or act for
performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as
specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been
presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not
intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form
disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of
ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of
the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best
explain the principles of the invention and the practical application,
and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the
invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are
suited to the particular use contemplated. Accordingly, while the
invention has been described in terms of embodiments, those of skill in
the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with
modifications and in the spirit and scope of the appended claims.